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LeBreton Flats
LeBreton Flats (also spelled Lebreton Flats) (French: Plaines Lebreton), known colloquially as The Flats or LeBreton, is a neighbourhood in Somerset Ward in central Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It lies to the west of Centretown neighbourhood, and to the north of Centretown West and Chinatown. The Ottawa River forms the western and northern limit, with the western side being a wider area of the river known as Nepean Bay.
Originally a residential area, much of the northern portion of the Flats is now occupied by the Canadian War Museum and the National Holocaust Monument. Pimisi station, a station on Ottawa's LRT system, is also in LeBreton Flats. About half of the total area, on the south side of the Kichi Zibi Mikan, is undergoing redevelopment. The population was 620 (2016 Census), up from 373 (2011 Census), and 57 in 2006 and 50 in 2001.
LeBreton Flats was named after Lieutenant John LeBreton (1779–1848), one of Nepean Township's first settlers (c. 1819) and a hero of the War of 1812. As an officer in the Royal Newfoundland Regiment between April and October 1812, he acted as adjutant to the Voltigeurs Canadiens. LeBreton purchased the area in 1820, a purchase which has been described[by whom?] as solely for the purpose of capitalizing on the construction of the planned Rideau Canal.
The account, according to his detractors,[who?] goes as follows. In 1820, LeBreton lived at the community of Britannia, west of Ottawa and overheard Lord Dalhousie explain that the intended plan for the Rideau Canal was from Dow's Lake to the Chaudière Falls, directly crossing the flats. LeBreton bought the land for £499, before Lord Dalhousie had a chance to purchase the territory. LeBreton then offered to sell the land to Dalhousie for £3000. Dalhousie recognized LeBreton's land speculation and was so infuriated he decided to move the canal to Entrance Bay, the current location where the canal enters into the Ottawa River. This significantly raised the cost of the canal, as it was a longer route and additional locks were now required. At the same time, Dalhousie purchased neighbouring Barracks Hill as part of the agreement, which would become Parliament Hill.
For his part, LeBreton vigorously maintained that he had purchased the land fairly at a public auction and that he had been grievously wronged by Dalhousie and those in the community who took the Governor General's side. LeBreton claimed he was one of the few to grasp the commercial value of the flats and that he had begun to make offers to acquire land there as early as 1818, well before the canal was approved or any route revealed. LeBreton presented Dalhousie with a lengthy written defence against the allegations. These arguments Dalhousie somewhat peremptorily dismissed, entrenching the notion of LeBreton as a swindler in local legend.
By the mid-19th century, LeBreton Flats developed into a mixed community to serve the lumber mills on the nearby Chaudière and Victoria islands. A rail line came in with a station and yards, and industries developed in turn. There was also housing for both the workers and owners, as well as hotels and taverns.
The area was ravaged by the Great Fire of 1900, which had started across the river in Hull (now Gatineau, Quebec), but crossed over by way of the great stacks of piled lumber on the islands. The fire destroyed the neighbourhood, leaving many homeless. The area was rebuilt, but the lumber barons relocated their dwellings up into the city proper above the escarpment, leaving the workers as the remaining Flats' residents.
In the 1960s, expropriation occurred in order to make room for redevelopment, including offices for the Government of Canada. Ottawa Valley artist Ralph Wallace Burton documented the neighbourhood in his Lebreton Flats series of oil sketches (now on display in Ottawa City Hall), "working just ahead of the demolition crews".
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LeBreton Flats
LeBreton Flats (also spelled Lebreton Flats) (French: Plaines Lebreton), known colloquially as The Flats or LeBreton, is a neighbourhood in Somerset Ward in central Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It lies to the west of Centretown neighbourhood, and to the north of Centretown West and Chinatown. The Ottawa River forms the western and northern limit, with the western side being a wider area of the river known as Nepean Bay.
Originally a residential area, much of the northern portion of the Flats is now occupied by the Canadian War Museum and the National Holocaust Monument. Pimisi station, a station on Ottawa's LRT system, is also in LeBreton Flats. About half of the total area, on the south side of the Kichi Zibi Mikan, is undergoing redevelopment. The population was 620 (2016 Census), up from 373 (2011 Census), and 57 in 2006 and 50 in 2001.
LeBreton Flats was named after Lieutenant John LeBreton (1779–1848), one of Nepean Township's first settlers (c. 1819) and a hero of the War of 1812. As an officer in the Royal Newfoundland Regiment between April and October 1812, he acted as adjutant to the Voltigeurs Canadiens. LeBreton purchased the area in 1820, a purchase which has been described[by whom?] as solely for the purpose of capitalizing on the construction of the planned Rideau Canal.
The account, according to his detractors,[who?] goes as follows. In 1820, LeBreton lived at the community of Britannia, west of Ottawa and overheard Lord Dalhousie explain that the intended plan for the Rideau Canal was from Dow's Lake to the Chaudière Falls, directly crossing the flats. LeBreton bought the land for £499, before Lord Dalhousie had a chance to purchase the territory. LeBreton then offered to sell the land to Dalhousie for £3000. Dalhousie recognized LeBreton's land speculation and was so infuriated he decided to move the canal to Entrance Bay, the current location where the canal enters into the Ottawa River. This significantly raised the cost of the canal, as it was a longer route and additional locks were now required. At the same time, Dalhousie purchased neighbouring Barracks Hill as part of the agreement, which would become Parliament Hill.
For his part, LeBreton vigorously maintained that he had purchased the land fairly at a public auction and that he had been grievously wronged by Dalhousie and those in the community who took the Governor General's side. LeBreton claimed he was one of the few to grasp the commercial value of the flats and that he had begun to make offers to acquire land there as early as 1818, well before the canal was approved or any route revealed. LeBreton presented Dalhousie with a lengthy written defence against the allegations. These arguments Dalhousie somewhat peremptorily dismissed, entrenching the notion of LeBreton as a swindler in local legend.
By the mid-19th century, LeBreton Flats developed into a mixed community to serve the lumber mills on the nearby Chaudière and Victoria islands. A rail line came in with a station and yards, and industries developed in turn. There was also housing for both the workers and owners, as well as hotels and taverns.
The area was ravaged by the Great Fire of 1900, which had started across the river in Hull (now Gatineau, Quebec), but crossed over by way of the great stacks of piled lumber on the islands. The fire destroyed the neighbourhood, leaving many homeless. The area was rebuilt, but the lumber barons relocated their dwellings up into the city proper above the escarpment, leaving the workers as the remaining Flats' residents.
In the 1960s, expropriation occurred in order to make room for redevelopment, including offices for the Government of Canada. Ottawa Valley artist Ralph Wallace Burton documented the neighbourhood in his Lebreton Flats series of oil sketches (now on display in Ottawa City Hall), "working just ahead of the demolition crews".
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